Our speaker, a futurist, shares the secrets of listening to the future. He focuses on the types of questions we should be asking, the signs we should be paying attention to, and the implications for our organizations today—and tomorrow. He describes techniques such as scenarios, in particular stories, that can help us navigate uncertainty and continue to innovate in the face of change.

Change is a given everywhere, and this track focuses on how to deal with change and to target specific audiences for specialized service, strategies for developing and supporting new services, the new face of reference in different types of libraries, and more.

Library staff is expected to rapidly absorb technology change and implement appropriate strategies and service models. A team of academic librarians from various-sized institutions discuss implementing physical/virtual/technological upgrades and changes for users; using “lazy consensus” methods to lead to collaborative change; surviving major project implementations; leveraging staff skill development and training as a tool for survival; finding mentors online to guide you during change; and developing coping techniques for dealing with professional stress during times of work upheaval.

This session looks at how libraries determine what part of their community to target for new services and how to move them forward. Howe discusses how one library and its local business community have been working together on various projects such as workshops designed for business owners, digital literacy workshops, and a mentoring program between local business owners and high school students. The project librarian now serves on the local chamber of commerce and the library is an integral part of its local business community. Moore highlights Darien’s technology series with programs for preschoolers, elementary-aged children, tweens, and even an 8-week online course modeled on Helen Blowers 23 Things (called 21 Things for 21st Century Parents.) She explains the goals, best practices, and how libraries can create their own family-centered tech programs.

Hear how one library took a risk by hosting an open forum where patrons and management freely shared their ideas and opinions about library services. By trusting patrons and expecting management support, they redesigned space and reinvented services, trained staff as data scientists, embraced embedded librarianship, and used patron requests to impact and spur management support for the library. The second talk looks at how a volunteer-driven virtual public library service in Second Life has evolved and describes the current Community Virtual Library (CVL) providing virtual space, programs, exhibits, reference services, advice, and a sense of community.

Stern talks about shared workspace collaboration tools and describes the use of a shared workspace for manipulating multiple media materials and the sharing of real-time workstation screens to understand and demonstrate more sophisticated search methods and to facilitate the mastery of more advanced tools and techniques.While increasing collaboration and interaction at a distance, remote control is also the next step in offering advanced instruction, assistance, and collaboration. The next two presentations include reference librarians who partnered with a library technical support analyst and a vendor to develop a tablet-based app and a mobile app to extend reference service. The last talk focuses on how an ask-a-librarian service leverages the time and expertise of EPA librarians across the country to present a unified service to all EPA staff. It shares lessons learned during the last 3 years and future plans.

Having managed Facebook Ad campaigns for eight libraries, averaging over 1000 new fans a month, per library, Bizzle provides tips and strategies for building awareness in your community. King's library has created successful social media strategies around reader's advisory, Facebook, and more using a team of librarians. Learn from his experience how to build community engagement and awareness, no matter what type of library you’re in!

General Conference  Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Track B 
Innovation In Our DNA

Innovation may be becoming one of today’s most overused words, but for libraries it has been a way of operating for many, many years. Innovation is in a library’s DNA, and the libraries featured in this track demonstrate how operations and services continue to be transformed.

Moderated by Jill Hurst-Wahl, Director, LIS & School Media Programs, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University

These libraries describe how their introduction of patron-driven acquisition (PDA) has impacted their collection development, e-resources management, staff roles, and how they think about operational functions.

“What’s in it for (WIIF)” staff to use SharePoint? Rauber identifies current bad work habits SharePoint solves, discusses independent and collaborative work activities it improves, and shares basic SharePoint project management functions that result in successful collaborative projects. And, WIIF them to use WordPress? The increasingly rapid rate of change makes email or an occasional staff meeting an impractical way to keep everyone abreast of new developments in the library. Mizejewski explains how WordPress, coupled with an unusual Twitter-like interface, has transformed staff updates making them lightweight, mobile, searchable, social, and, ultimately, much more effective.

Both of these libraries are transitioning their technical support functions to ensure access, discovery, assessment, sharing, and development of digital content and applications. Hear how these libraries are shifting their approaches to authentication, link resolvers, discovery tools, cataloging, usage statistics, web technology, the relationship between e-resources and virtual library environment, and the influence this is having on staff in systems and technical services.

Learn how three libraries use apps to transform services, operations, and assessment. One library developed a tablet-based app to provide just-in-time reference services and an alternative to cutting services or staff. Another library utilizes iPads on both sides of the circ desk from circulating iPads to patrons to apps for tech services, reference, and circulation. The third library creates its own free suite of apps to collect and analyze data, create reports, and demonstrate the importance of their liaison.

Many of us rely on email, RSS, list servs, and conferences to share information and learn from each other. Hear how one library is pursuing progressive and exciting ways to transform communication and sharing. Foster shares how his library uses Blog Talk Radio, a web-based platform, to host live call-in internet broadcasts and conversations with colleagues and librarians across the world. It’s igniting enthusiasm in librarians!

Public libraries and city IT departments can be friends or foes. As public libraries increasingly rely on a technologically driven future, is it safe to give municipal IT departments or city managers control over key IT decisions? The Canadian Urban Libraries Council conducted a study to determine the level of involvement with city IT departments, measure outcomes, and develop best practice models for public libraries and cities. This first evidence-based study has provided great, but startling, stats. Join us to hear more.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library revolutionized its approach to summer reading and year-round programming by developing technology-based tools to provide outcome measures that are meaningful to funders and advocates. One tool, part of a new strategic approach to programming that garnered the library a 2012 Top Innovators Award from the Urban Libraries Council, is the program portal, a cloud-based database that is accessible to all programming and management staff and facilitates planning, full-costing, and evaluation. A second tool, an online database created for the annual summer reading program for all ages, captures in real time the progress toward specific targets such as minutes read per participant and completion rates, tied into research about summer learning loss. The presenters demonstrate the tools and include the databases’ creators, the public services administrators who guide the content and implementation, and the communications staff who share these measures with stakeholder audiences.

“Inbound marketing” focuses on positioning your library in cyberspace and bringing your customers to you with search engine optimization, inbound links, RSS, blogging, page ranking, tagging content, tweeting, publishing content, and social media. Leading-edge software tools can integrate the entire inbound marketing process into a dashboard showing the performance of blogs, websites, lead management, landing pages, and competitor performance. Attendees see calls-to-action links dynamically created and monitored, social media monitored in real-time, tracking of inbound links, and the performance of keywords and its effect on search engine rankings. These tools and techniques can be performed by anyone in the organization.

Data you gather is just data until it is analyzed, interpreted, and conveyed in a meaningful way. With Google Analytics incorrect conclusions can be drawn without doing an in-depth analysis. Wisniewski provides a framework for accurately assessing the data to make informed design decisions in combination with other user tests, surveys and focus groups. See how Pittsburgh is mining data to learn about user behavior and Memorial Library is displaying data in a dashboard to visualize its services to stakeholders, students, and faculty.

General Conference  Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Track D 
Engaging Communities

Getting the attention of communities and engaging them is even more difficult these days. Our presenters share some of their secrets using social media, becoming TechCentral, providing 21st-century readers advisory, using cool strategies to engage teens, and more.

Consumer-centric organizations know that social media can be used to engage with customers, leading to increased satisfaction and the acquisition of new customers through the power of viral marketing, yet relatively few organizations do it well. Our social-media-savvy and engaging speaker presents a practical guide for any organization that aspires to create direct, deep, rewarding relationships with its patrons and prospects. He demonstrates how a range of Web 2.0 tools and techniques can be used to start and sustain conversations and humanize the organization in the eyes of those it seeks to serve.

Building a technology center, makerspace, or technology commons in a public library is about more than buzzwords. Integral to the success of any large-scale technology project is an understanding of the user community. Cleveland Public Library staff share the lessons learned as the TechCentral project moved from idea to reality. They discuss the Tech Toybox, a electronic device lending program, and myCloud, a virtualized desktop experience offered to public computer users.

Across libraries, patrons increasingly turn to automated recommendations systems. Many of these systems are from companies like Amazon that are driven by commercial considerations, not library values, and know nothing about library collections. Spalding surveys readers advisory services, from companies such as Novelist, Chilifresh, LibraryThing and Bibliocommons, and provides some insights on personal recommendation services and whether libraries can satisfy demand. Stanton discusses the Game of Books, a national effort to use technology, the written word, and our human connections to inspire and engage readers in a way that's never before been possible. Powered by the Book Genome Project and being built in collaboration with librarians, writers, teachers, and readers, the game rewards readers for completing literary “Journeys” – earning badges by reading books that have rare and unique themes. Hear how you can use it to promote reading!

A panel of teen librarians is interviewed about their ideas and innovations in working with and successfully engaging teen users at the public library. Hear about their great experiments, pilots, and programs using things such as guitars, teen hubs, author interviews, gaming nights, laser tag, mobile apps, and more.

This panel addresses the “Things IT Folks Say” and provides honest answers that librarians may not always hear. It provides strategies to help talk to, and engage, the typically difficult IT Manager to get creative projects in motion.

How do we best teach digital literacy? During a person’s lifetime, the majority of learning happens outside the walls of a formal classroom. The first speakers focus on projects targeting the youngest library patrons through gaming, computing, and other digital devices. Through Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding, administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), local libraries have developed a range of digital literacy projects to best meet the needs of young learners in their communities. The second presentation describes how the Mechanics’ Institute Library’s technology team devised an appointment-based office-hours approach to teaching digital literacy skills. Hear how this approach has morphed from an informal drop-in session to a popular bimonthly appointment-based consultation for patrons.

Experienced information literacy instructors share concrete tips for turning a library classroom into a hands-on literacy lab utilizing current technologies and team-based problem solving. Creative approaches to designing assignments and class sessions that engage students with a variety of new media literacies and 21st-century skills are introduced along with the accompanying learning theories. Leave with tried-and-true assignments and lesson plans such as creative visualizations, concept mapping and flowcharts, mobile scavenger hunts, infographics, course wikis, games, and simulations.

Based on recent research from the UK, learn about the information needs and behaviors of faculty and students and the skills needed to support them. Grab the latest models and good practices from real world examples.

Staff training is an investment in your library’s future, but between desk time and busy schedules, it can be challenging to implement. This panel shares their experiences in public and academic libraries to juggle staff time tables with staff learning events. Hear and discuss how they are setting goals, measuring success, and using a variety of approaches, including 23 Things and self-directed methods, to keeping staff current and developing their technology capabilities.

The U.S. Government Printing Office shares its recent educational curriculum launch, from conception to sustainment, highlighting lessons learned on topics from curriculum development to launching an elearning platform to creating video modules.